The Marceline Tigers came out of the gate in the 2008 season with a single goal in mind…win.  Now this shouldn’t be any kind of surprise to fans of any sport.  But considering that the Tigers started off winless last season, this team was bound and determined to start things off on the right foot.  With the Schuyler County Rams coming to Chester Ray Stadium, the Tigers were hopeful of a game one win and building some momentum heading into their week two clash with Brookfield in the annual rivalry-epic, the Bell Game.
The Tigers started things off the night by winning the opening coin toss and electing to receive the ball.  The opening kickoff was returned to their own 40.  The first drive of the season got off well, with Austin Bruner connecting with Jeff Floray on an out patter towards the home sideline for a three yard gain.  Following an incompletion and a five yard gain by Matthew Bell, the Rams took over first and 10 on their own 37 off of the Eric Comstock punt.
Schuyler tried to establish a running game early, but Marceline stuffed the attempts repeatedly including a nice tackle for a loss by the duo of Bryce Cupp and Brian Mosier which set up a long third down for the Rams.  Following a pair of penalties, the Rams quarterback tried a keeper and was stopped by Bell and Mosier.  Schuyler punted and the ball was downed at the Tigers 42 yard line.
The Tigers second drive started off well enough with a Bell four yard run up the gut, but a penalty and a fumble gave Schuyler back the ball on the Tigers 35 yard line with 7:39 left to go in the still scoreless first quarter.  But, the Tigers staunch defense forced a fumble, which “The Triple Threat” Austin Paalhar recovered to get the ball back on their own 34 yard line.
Paalhar continued his momentum by swapping in at the quarterback position and breaking off a 15 yard run for another Tigers first down.  The very next play saw The Bell-dozer take the ball 50 huge yards for the first Tigers touchdown of the season.  Bell missed the extra point following a penalty which backed them up to field goal range, but still left Marceline with a 6-0 lead with 7:11 left in the opening quarter.
In a bit of early season trickery, Marceline audibled the kickoff into an onside kick, which was recovered by Nick Cordray to give the Tiger back the ball on their own 48 yard line.  The next play had Bruner connect with Jordan Tibbs on a route streaking up the middle of the field, which went all the way to the house for a 51 yard touchdown.  “I have to thank the line for their tremendous job blocking,” said Bruner, “there’s not much to ti with that kind of support, I just have to let it go and throw it.”  A two-point conversion by Paalhar later and the Tigers were up 14-0 with 7:02 left in the first quarter.
Comstock kicked off to Schuyler and Bell stopped the return at the Rams 26.  The Rams continued to try and use the run, but stops early by Cordray, Bell, and Nick McCollum put and end to that quickly.  Another Schuyler punt gave Marceline back the ball on their own 38 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
Another Bruner to Tibbs connection brought the ball to the Schuyler 48 on first down.  A second connection from Bruner to Tibbs got the second first down of the drive to the Rams 35 yard line.  Cordray broke off a decent run that was advanced even further off of a Schuyler penalty.  In the end, Marceline had the ball on the Rams 11 yard line with 4:10 left in the first quarter, and a fresh set of downs.  A trifecta of incomplete passes brought up fourth and 10 and brought the kicking unit onto the field.  Bell booted through the easy three points to give the Tigers a 17-0 lead with  3:47 left in the opening salvo of the season.
The Comstock kick resulted in a storm of Tigers, led by Luke Spencer, and gave Schuyler the ball at their own 30 yard line.  A second down pass, the first of the game by the Rams gave Schuyler its first decent gain of the night.  But, a third and one stuff by Cordray earned the Rams no yardage and brought up fourth down.  A Schuyler punt gave Marceline back the ball on their own 39 with over a minute left in the first quarter.
Bell earned eight yards on first down on a play that saw Kyle Bixenman injure his knee.  Despite a valiant effort by the speedster to remain in the game, he would be forced into street clothes by the second half.  Following a loss, Bell dozes his way to the 50 yard line for a Marceline first down.  But, a Bruner pass was tipped and picked off, the Rams were stopped on the potential return by Jeff Floray.  Schuyler had the ball with 0.8 seconds left in the first quarter.
A sweep that no one was fooled by lost the Rams five yards to round out the first quarter of play.
End of the first quarter - Marceline 17  Schuyler County 0
The Tigers forced the Rams into a second and long to start the second quarter.  A breaking up of a pass by Floray, and a third and long stuff by Cupp left Schuyler little option but to punt away the ball on another fourth and long.  Following a long, rolling punt, the Tigers took over on their own 21 yard line with 11:04 left in the first half.
But, another interception gave the Rams back the ball following a stop by Michael Womack.  Schuyler ended up with a fresh set of downs on the Marceline 40.  A Penalty backed the Rams up before they even got a snap off on first down.  Cupp and Comstock stuff another run attempt forcing a two yard loss on the eventual first down.  The run proved to be completely ineffective, and following a stuff by Cordray, and a near interception by Paalhar off of pressure from Wesley Pickman brought out the punter for another try.  The punt went out of bounds to give the Tigers back the ball at their own 37 with 9:25 left in the half.
The Tigers offense sputtered a bit, and despite a pair of offsetting third down penalties, Marceline was forced to punt for the first time this season.  Comstock squib punted the ball, which was returned to the Schuyler 46 yard line, after being ran out of bounds by McCollum.
The Rams completed a pass on first down for another first down to the 44 yard line of the Tigers with 6:44 left in the first half.  Again though, the run tried to establish itself, but Comstock, Pickman, and Cordray made yet another stuff at the line.  A sack by Mosier on a hard shot knocks Schuyler into another third and long.  But, the Rams air game completed a pass when it counted to take the ball down to the Tigers 28 for a fresh set of downs.  Another first down pass, after a Bell stuff in the backfield, brought the Rams within breathing room of the end zone, all the way to the Marceline 18.  A trifecta of runs were again stopped before they could do anything, managing only three yards in the red zone.  And in a lapse of mental acuity, the Rams tried a fake field goal, but the holder had his knee down, downing himself and giving the Tigers back the ball on their own 21 yard line.
The Tigers ran out the clock in the second quarter to end the first half of the season with a 17-0 lead, this short drive featured a very nice run by Paalhar which got the Tigers into Rams territory, and a Bruner to Tibbs connection to enter the red zone.  A Bell field goal was close, but ruled no good to end the half.
Halftime - Marceline 17  Schuyler County 0
Schuyler received the Comstock kickoff to start the second half.  Spencer again made the special teams stop, and a clipping penalty on Schuyler backed them all the way up their own 14 yard line.  The Rams were forced into a three and out off of defensive gems by Cupp, Mosier, Floray, and Bell.  The punt was downed by the Rams at their own 37 yard line to put the Tigers into some good field position for their first drive of the second half.
The Bell-dozer broke off a 28 yard run, which featured him drag at least three defenders for 15 yards, to put the Tigers into a first and goal situation.  “It feels good to make any kind of good run,” said Bell, “I have to say good job to the line, they really helped out on both sides of the ball, defense and offense.”  Paalhar took the misdirection run in on first down for a score on the very next play.  “I just followed my great blocks,” said Paalhar, “the line did a great job and if you follow your big boys you can do good things.”  Bell added the point after to put Marceline on top 24-0 with 9:58 left in the third quarter.
Comstock kicked a two roll kickoff into the end zone for a touch-back, the first one seen by these eyes in my time on the sidelines.  This feat gave Schuyler the ball at their own 20 yard line.  Schuyler used a rare lapse in the Tigers run-stopping game to earn a first down on a pair of runs to start the drive.  But, a failed option on first down saw Floray recover a fumble at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter.  Marceline took over first and 10 from the Rams 30 yard line.
Bruner completed a pass to Floray for a long pass that saw him shoe-stringed at the one yard line.  This 29-yard completion led to a one yard run up the gut by Cordray.  Bell‘s extra point went wide right, making it 30-0 with 8:33 left in the third quarter.
Comstock’s kickoff was brought back to the Rams 26 yard line off of a stop by Johnny Lemmond.  McCollum made an impressive stop after a one yard gain on first down.  “It was great out there tonight,” said McCollum, “the defense made a lot of great stops.”  Big Luke Brehm and Adam Sprague made another stop on second down showing all that the one-time lapse in the Tigers run defense was over.  Following a Josh Weaver tackle in the backfield, the Rams were forced to punt.  Tibbs took the punt, made a great juke which took out eight Rams, and was stopped at the Schuyler 19 yard line for a 32 yard return by the last possible defender.  “When I was going outside I saw a bunch of people, so I cut back,” said Tibbs after the game, “I saw the opening so I hit it.”   The Tigers took over in the red zone with a first and 10.
After an incomplete pass, Paalhar ran in for another score on the night from 19 yards out.  The Bell point after made it 37-0 with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
The Rams brought the Comstock kick out to the 26 yard line, Spencer and Pickman were in on the stop.  “It feels great to knock someone into the dirt,” said Pickman after his night was through.  A three and out, which featured a pair of incomplete passes and a stop by Mosier brought out the punter again.  Tibbs made another good move to bring the punt back to the Schuyler 40 yard line.
After a short run by Paalhar and penalties against the Tigers and Rams on successive plays, Weaver runs for a first down.  Another penalty against Schuyler advanced the ball even further into Rams territory.  The Tigers ended up with the first down on the Rams 12 yard line.  An 11 yard run by The Bell-dozer brought up another first and goal at the Rams one yard line.  Weaver punched it in on the last play of the quarter from six yards out for the final score of the evening.  Bell capped things off with the extra point to put the Tigers up for good, and drive this game towards its inevitable conclusion, with a 44-0 opening night win for the Marceline Tigers.
“We stepped up in the second half and took over,” said Cupp post game, “hopefully this is the first of may wins this season.”  This win was a nice one indeed, but one cannot help but look into next week’s titanic showdown.  “This brings a lot of motivation to our team heading into the big Bell Game in week two,” remarked Tibbs post game.  But, the team was quick to point out that this win was not an easy one at all.  “We came out, got fired up, and got the job done,” explained Comstock, “we’ve been working really hard with two-a-days, and this is a good way to start the season.”  This statement was echoed by one of the Tigers captains as well.  “We worked our butts off,” said Brehm, “it feels awesome to start off with a win.”
Tigers Head Coach Deacon Windsor was happy after the game with his team’s performance.  “I thought early on we dominated, but we had some rough spots and  gave the ball away a couple times,” he explained, “but we came out in the third quarter and fixed things.  Our kids were very coach-able and I thank them for that.”  What a difference a year makes for these Tigers, and Coach Windsor was glad to be one up for the year so far.  “Half the teams in Missouri are 1-0 right now, and we are happy to be one of them on that side of the column.”